Shane Crawford joins Seven team as boundary rider

Footy fans know Shane Crawford the Brownlow medallist: a pacy, courageous, endurance beast who won his one and only AFL premiership in his 305th and final game for Hawthorn in 2008.

They know the actor, the self-deprecating clown, the elite dancer — he made the last six in Dancing With The Stars in 2024 despite suffering a knee injury during the show — and the selfless charity worker who has raised more than $2 million for the Breast Cancer Network Australia.

But they may have forgotten the former Hawks captain, AFL MVP and four-time All-Australian remains a student of the game; erudite and unafraid to voice an opinion.

Channel Seven viewers are about to find that out all over again when Crawford joins the AFL commentary team as a boundary rider — with his debut set for Sunday’s Western Bulldogs v Melbourne clash at Marvel Stadium on May 24.

Crawford, who hails from the New South Wales Riverina town of Finley, grew up with a Seven commentary team led by Peter Landy and the late Lou Richards, a Collingwood great whose great-nephew Ed Richards is now lighting up the Western Bulldogs’ midfield.

“I loved the old half-time Punchline reports with the late Scot Palmer too. Keep punching, Scotty. God bless him,” Crawford says.

“I probably watched the Sydney Swans more than anyone else because I was in NSW and they were on the TV playing Sunday games a lot.

“I used to watch David Murphy from the Swans closely, because he was originally from Finley. So you felt connected and we knew the family, like everyone does in a small country town.”

Crawford will bring his own combination of personality and flair.

“I’m looking forward to talking a bit of footy, but I’ll try and make it digestible and not too complicated for people who are just watching to be entertained,” he says.

“And I’ll call it as I see it. If I think something’s not good enough, whether it be players or umpires or coaching, I won’t be afraid to put my head on the chopping block. I’ll try to be really fair and reasonable, but if it’s obvious, and if it’s lacking in some area, you have got to call it as you see it.

“As a player, you never like receiving criticism, but in a lot of cases it’s justified.”

Crawford, 51, says he still “loves the game” and reckons the fast pace today would suit his playing style.

“Deep down I’m a fan, even though I’m a past player,” he says. “It’s a great game and it’s just nice to be a part of it.

“I do admire the pace of the game and how good players are in congested areas with their hands and how fast they are.

“In a way I think the game is easier because with players standing on the mark, they aren’t allowed to put any pressure on you and the game moves a lot faster.

“The game’s a running game. That would be the perfect for me.”

Asked what games he featured in that he would like to have called, Crawford nominates two: a round 17, 2001 contest against Carlton in which Hawthorn forward Ben Dixon kicked a match-winning goal after the siren, and the 2008 grand final victory over Geelong.

“That game where Ben Dixon kicks a goal after the siren, Chris Connolly coached for the day because Peter Schwab was sick. That would have been pretty cool to be a part of a match like that where you’d come back and win after the siren,” he says.

“And obviously the grand final in 2008, watching the team hang in there and Stewie Dew and Mark Williams turning it on in the third quarter.”

Crawford joins the Seven team in the second week of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round, and says he is looking forward to watching Melbourne excitement machine Kysaiah Pickett up close.

“What a player he’s turned into,” he says.

“I get to watch up close from the boundary line, watch the way he moves and his running patterns and how explosive he is, and I’ll be in seat 1A.”

Crawford will be on the boundary line alongside recent “recruit” Tom Morris, with Abbey Holmes the host, Brian Taylor and Al Nicholson providing the main commentary, and Joel Selwood and Campbell Brown doing special comments.

“God help us,” he says of his old 2008 premiership teammate Brown.

“I loved playing with him. I’ve forgiven him for deserting the Hawks and heading off to the Gold Coast Suns for his superannuation.

“We’ll be teaming up again and he calls it as he sees it, and I think he does a really good job when he’s analysing a footy game and he won’t sit on the fence.”

The Western Bulldogs v Melbourne match will be broadcast live and free on Seven and 7plus on May 24.